“Yeah, I guess I have to redo my makeup, huh?” She wipes under her eyes.
“No, you look wonderful. Thank God for waterproof mascara.” I smile at her, trying to make the mood lighter. It works because I get a laugh out of her. She takes my hand and squeezes it.
“Donovan is very lucky to have you, Allie,” she gushes, her smile reaching her eyes.
“I’m lucky to have him, too.” Her sweet comment makes me blush, and I hope that my man feels the same way about me. I go back to putting on my makeup. By the time I’m done, Stacey is getting into her wedding gown. All the bridesmaids are gathered around her, helping her step into the dress. Two of the girls help slide it up and zip it. Megan slips her veil on just as a woman walks in, who I assume is Stacey’s mom, and squeals.
“Just look at my baby! You look so beautiful, sweetheart!,” she gushes as she walks to her daughter. Both of them look alike, with their auburn hair and green eyes. In those eyes, I see tears pooling. “I can’t believe it’s finally your big day.” She carefully wraps her arms around Stacey.
“Thanks, Mom. I can’t believe it either.” Megan flips the veil over Stacey’s face and turns her around to look in the floor length mirror.
“You, my friend, are beyond beautiful. Now, let’s go get you married. Allie, would you mind getting our bouquets from the fridge in the staff’s kitchen? I’ll be right there to help,” Megan asks as she straightens out the bottom of the wedding dress and helps the bride get into her heels.
“Sure, no problem.” I step out and head down the hall. I walk by another room and hear a bunch of guys talking. That must be the groom’s room. I hear laughing and the clinking of glasses. Then the door opens and I stand there with my mouth hanging open. I’ve seen Donovan in business suits before, but never a tuxedo. Wow, he looks good. The tux is light gray with a matching silver vest and tie. His hair is gelled back and I swear my heart stops beating.
“Hey, baby doll. Where are you going?” His blue eyes sparkle as he stares at me. I feel my cheeks flush a bit.
“To help get the bouquets for the wedding party from the kitchen,” I whisper, unable to take my eyes off of him. I drink in the sight of him, etching each detail to memory. I have to remember to tell him to be in more weddings.
“Come here.” He grins and pulls me into a nearby bathroom. He locks the door and stares at me, like he wants to devour me, and I welcome it.
“I don’t have much time, but I just have to touch you.” In two swift steps, he’s in front of me and seals his mouth over mine. I want to protest, but I can’t. I needed to get those flowers, but right now, I don’t care. His tongue takes control of my mouth and I’m pressed so firmly against him, I feel his dick get hard. I unzip his pants and grab ahold of him, stroking him as he moans in our kiss.
“Turn around, grab the sink, and lift your dress.” His tone is softly demanding and it makes me hot for him. I love when he takes charge like this. I do as I’m told, happily, and hold my dress up to my waist. I feel his hands on my thighs as they raise up to my panties. He quickly slides them down and my body is instantly ready for him. “God, you’re so beautiful,” he says as he pulls his pants down. His fingers suddenly slide into me, taking me by surprise. He’s not joking about being quick. He moves them in and out to get me as wet as he can.
“You’re gonna feel so good around me,” he whispers in my ear as he leans on top of me and rubs himself against the heat that’s building between my legs. “Please let me inside you.”
I poke my ass out in response and he groans as he pushes himself in. My muscles tighten around him, and he starts his feverish pace. He rams into me over and over, never slowing down. I bite my lip to keep my moans quiet, but it’s so hard. I climax just as he does, pleasure making both our bodies convulse as we ride out the orgasms out.
“That’s just what I needed,” Donovan pulls out and hands me a towel to clean up with. “Thank you, baby.” He gives me softly on my lips. “I’ll see you later.”
“Oh, before you leave, I wanted to ask you. What did you say to me last night when I was falling asleep?” I ask. “It’s been kinda bugging me because I didn’t hear you.” We check the hallway to make sure nobody sees us come out of the bathroom together.
He stops short and his eyes widen just a fraction, then he shrugs. “I don’t remember, baby. Probably just good night or something.” I give a tight lipped smile to him and nod. I was hoping it was a little more romantic than that like I can’t live without you or I love you. I toss the towel into the laundry bin, then I take off to the kitchen. I look over my shoulder once to wave to him, and he’s pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes screwed shut. Maybe he’s getting a headache? I shrug my shoulders, then resume my mission to retrieve the flowers.
I peep through the door, hoping there isn’t a lot of people here; I don’t want to get in the way. It seems quiet for now, so I try to figure out which refrigerator all the flowers would be in. I walk through, trying to find it. Dammit, why didn’t I ask Megan? I’m wandering around like a lost child looking for her mommy. I finally come to a large stainless steel cooler, open it, and find eleven bouquets. “Finally,” I sigh. I grab the bride’s first and it’s so breathtakingly beautiful. The roses are light and dark pink with baby’s breath peeking out. The stems were wrapped in white silk so not to cut Stacey’s fingers. The bridesmaid’s are just as pretty, only not as extravagant. I gingerly lift the bride’s flowers up and carefully hold them. “Wow,” I whisper to myself. “These are so pret...” Before I could finish, Donna walks in.
“What are you doing with the bouquets?” Her hands are on her hips and she’s glaring at me. If she wasn’t such a nasty bitch, she would be kind of beautiful. Well, also if her face wasn’t plastic, she would be kind of beautiful. Well, I think she would, it’s hard to tell since there is no real part of her features anymore. Her fake eyes are back in, and they are shooting daggers at me.
I’m so caught off guard and I’m stutter, “I...I was helping...get the bouquets. They were busy with Stacey,” I would think that her look would soften a bit, but she seems to become more angry.
“You needn’t worry about that, Allison. I will have the staff hand deliver the girls the bouquets. Why don’t you scamper along and mind your business?” What the...? Scamper? Mind my own business? What the hell is her problem?
“Well, excuse me, Donna,” I roll her name off my tongue with disgust. “I’ll be more than happy to get out of your way.” I lay the flowers back in the cooler, slam the door hard, and start to walk past her. I keep my eyes downcast, not wanting to look into her plastic face. I might just snap if I do, or turn to stone, who knows? Suddenly, I feel a tug on my arm and nails digging into my flesh. What the...? My head whips around and I see anger written all over her face.
“You look here, you little bitch.” Her tone is quiet and full of rage. “This family does not want you in it, you hear me? You think you can waltz in here and we would all accept you? I know you’re hiding something, Allison,” her voice dripping with venom and hate. I feel shivers travel down my spine, my heart stops. Jackson? How can she know about my son? There’s no way, I’ve kept it secret from everyone except for Donovan. He wouldn’t tell her, would he? No, he hates her.
Screw this skank. I look her, deadpan. “You don’t know shit, Donna.” I yank my arm out of her grip and glare her down. “So, if you’ll excuse me.” I walk away as fast as I can, my temper is about ready to explode.
When my hand reaches up to swing the door open, she hisses, “He won’t fall in love with you, you know that, right? He’s stringing you along, all while still having feelings for...well you know. You’re just a good fuck.” I
feel
the shit eating grin she has on her face. I can feel like my heart has been yanked out of my chest, but I have to remember who I’m dealing with. She presents herself as a glamorous trophy wife, but when there’s no one around , her real colors show. She’s mean, nasty and conniving. I refuse to give her the satisfaction of knowing how bad she’s hurt me. I don’t turn around as I slam the doors open and stalk out of the kitchen. I walk down the hallway and find the closest empty room.
Once inside, I slide down against the door and hug my arms around my knees. Tears start feeling my eyes. I try to shake it off and remember that it was Donna telling me Donovan doesn’t love me. I don’t believe it for a minute, but when someone tells you something like that, it’s impossible not to question it. I don’t know why she would say things like that to me. It’s already bad enough that Adam hit on me, now his stepmother hates me for whatever reason. I let out a heavy sigh, trying to get the weight off my chest that seems to be crushing me. I manage not to spill any tears, but I stay in the room for a little while. Then I heard Megan coming down the hall asking, “Where in the world is Allie?”
I stand, smooth my dress down, and wipe my eyes, in case any makeup smudged. I quietly open the door and see Megan heading back my way. She has some of the flowers in her hand. She sees me, stops in her tracks, and cocks her head at me. “Sorry, I needed the bathroom and I got lost.” I smile, trying to mask the pain I feel clawing at my heart. It seems to work, because she grins back at me. She points to the second door on the left. “It’s this door, silly.”
“Thanks,” I tell her. “Do you still need help getting the bouquets?” I feel bad, but that stupid woman wouldn’t let me. I wonder if she treats Megan this way.
“Nah, I got it. Just come back when you’re done,” she says, then walks back to the bridal bathroom. I nod and step in. I check myself in the mirror; thank God I don’t look like I feel, which is pure hell. How can I bring this up to Donovan this weekend? I have no idea how to approach him on this matter. If I tell him now, he will go off on her and I don’t want him upset during the wedding. God forbid there be a scene. If I don’t tell him, it’s going to gnaw at me and depress me. I’d rather feel crappy then have Donovan feel awful. I’ll just tell him later, along with the Adam incident. I pull up my big girl panties, refusing to let anything ruin my day, and head back to the girls.
Chapter 13
Donovan
Gabe looks like he’s going to have a coronary. He looks so freaked out. His face is all red, he’s shaking and the way he’s pounding back the shots, I’ll be surprised if he can stand at the altar without puking. “Uh, Gabe, slow down, man. You want to be shit faced at your own wedding?” Daniel, our other best friend, says, trying to take the glass out of his hands.
Gabe is sitting in the leather chair in the “man cave”, shaking his knee and trying to take another swig of whiskey. “Nah uh, dude. I don’t think so.” Leave it to Daniel to be the responsible one. He’s been married for six years and has two kids. He’s much more settled down then any of the rest of us. He puts the liquor back on the shelf. “I’m not going to let you screw up your big day.”
“Really, I’m fine, see?” Gabe stands and tries to walk a straight line with his eyes closed, only to trip over his feet. He stumbles and holds on to the chair to steady himself. “Okay, you’re right. I won’t drink anymore.”
“Good. Go sit down, we only have twenty minutes before we have to get the altar,” I tell him, looking down at my watch; It’s 2:25. Thank God Pops and Daniel are driving the Hummers down to the tents. I’d keel over from heat exhaustion if I had to walk. All ten of us gather around Gabe, who’s trying to sober up with water. “What?” he asks, eying us like
what the hell are you gonna do
?
“Don’t worry, Gabe. It’s nothing bad, we just want to say how happy we are for you and Stacey. We all chipped in and got you two a gift,” I say, with a sly grin on my face. I actually paid for it, but I’m not calling them out like that. It’s a present from all of us, not just me. Chance, his brother, pulls out an envelope. The groom looks at us, confused. “Here, take it.”
He narrows his eyes, looking at each one of us. Chance hands the envelope to him, He slowly opens it up and peeks in. His eyes widen and the stupidest grin covers his face. “Holy crap, are you serious? No way!” I know some of the guys are wondering what the hell it is, too. They don’t even know what “we” got the groom for his big day.
“I know you’re the guy that can have anything that he wants. With you, money is not an issue, but we wanted to pay for your honeymoon to Cabos.” I feel a huge grin creep onto my face and I see the groomsmen who didn’t know almost piss their pants. “It’s just our way of saying, thanks for being there for us.”
He pulls out two plane tickets and the keys to a small bungalow on the beach that I rented. If I didn’t know better, I would say he’s got tears in his eyes. “Thank you. Thank you all. That means a lot to me.” He stands to hug each one of us. When he gets to me, he whispers, “Thanks, dude. I know it was you.” I just smile, knowing I made him happy. It’s the least I could do for him being there for me through a lot of crazy shit. I couldn’t ask for a better friend than him, except for one, and I screwed things up with that one. Oh well, after the way things went down between us, I guess I can’t blame him.
Pops busts in the door and claps his hands together. “Alright, boys, let’s go. The Hummers,” Jacob, the ring boy tugs at his jacket,”and the ring bearer are waiting.” We all laugh as Jacob gives him a smug grin. We all start heading out, and that’s when I catch a glimpse of Allie. My breath catches in my throat every time I see her, but today, she looks incredibly beautiful. My dick starts to twitch, just from having those thoughts about her. She looks at our group and her eyes seek me out. For some reason, they look so sad; like something is really wrong with her. I raise my eyebrows at her, silently asking if she’s okay. She gives me a shy smile and waves, then turns back around, heading in the opposite direction. What’s going on with her?